Today is Bastille Day. Think for a moment about what that means to you. Does it have any personal significance? Is it a mere historical event? Does it show up on your calendar? Have you ever heard of it?
Some consider it the spark that ignited the French Revolution. If so, it lit a slow-burning, mile-long fuse. None of the stuff often associated with the French Revolution (death, destruction, famine) happened for at least two years, until the largely conservative National Assembly had been replaced by the more radical Legislative Assembly.[1]
The centuries-old Bastille was a fortress that had long been associated with royal repression and used to hold political prisoners. By the time of its storming, it was a shadow of its former self and had already been scheduled for demolition.
The short story of the “storming of the Bastille” is that a Parisian mob needed ammunition for the muskets they had taken earlier from the Hotel des Invalides (then a retirement/convalescent home for veterans, now a museum). The commander of the Bastille, hoping to avoid violence, was negotiating the turnover of the fortress. But the discussion dragged on and mobs are not known for their patience. This mob moved into an outer courtyard of the fortress and, as is wont to happen, shots were fired. Then mayhem – close to 100 attackers and one defender died. Such is the nature of soldiers fighting (mostly) unarmed civilians. A total of seven prisoners were released, none of any note, although the Marquis de Sade[2] had been released ten days earlier.
So the Bastille was stormed and nothing really changed. It was quite exciting for the gathered mob, but the National Constituent Assembly meeting several miles away in Versailles and the king, who lived there, were blissfully unaware. When told about the event the next day, the king asked if it was a revolt. The famous reply from the Duke of La Rochefoucauld: “No, sire, it’s not a revolt; it’s a revolution.”
On the first anniversary of the storming, July 14, 1790, the initial Fete de la Federation was held to celebrate the unity of the French nation and to symbolize peace. The symbolism was lost on the 17,000 or so people who were guillotined over the next few years, not to mention the 250,000 who lost their lives in the subsequent civil war.
The Fete de la Federation was a huge celebration and the feasting lasted for four days. Among the attendees were Americans John Paul Jones and Thomas Paine, who carried the United States flag, likely the first time is was flown outside of US territory. Ultimately the Fete de la Federation became a national holiday (1880) and is now known as Bastille Day to non-French people. The French call it la Fete Nationale (the National Holiday).
If you ever want to torture yourself, read The French Revolution by Thomas Carlyle. I received it as a gift from my son when he was young enough to care about whether I read the books he gave me, so I read it. It was excruciating. But like any dutiful father, I persevered (at great cost to my short-term sanity). Would that Carlyle had never reconstructed it.[3]
For a couple of years after I read it, I would occasionally challenge friends to open the book to any random page, read the shortest paragraph, and tell me whether they understood it. Nobody did.[4] I had to get rid of the book — seeing it on the shelf engendered a foul mood as I remembered the distressing experience of reading it. (I have since begrudgingly forgiven my son.)
I mentioned the Estates General earlier. When the members initially arrived in Paris, they tended to congregate with people from their home province or city. After the storming, the members decided to stop meeting at Versailles (then the home of Louis XVI and his administration, now a museum) and relocated to Paris. The first day at the new venue, the members, who now knew each other better, gathered with like-minded people. The more conservative members gathered on the right side of the room. The more liberal members gathered on the left side of the room. And that is the quotidian origin of the left/right convention that is used around the world as shorthand for liberal and conservative political parties and ideas.
Bastille Day remains a day of celebration in France and in several other countries.[5] The nearest analogue in our country is the Fourth of July. The French celebrate with fireworks and parades, including one that involves the French army marching down the Champs-Elysees, which is considered the largest and oldest military parade in Europe.
Happy Bastille Day!
[1] The French monarch, Louis XVI, was in desperate financial straits, caused in part by the loans he floated to help finance the American Revolution. He convened the Estates General, which had not met in well over a century, hoping to shore up royal finances. That body morphed into the National Assembly, then the National Constituent Assembly, which was replaced in toto by the Legislative Assembly. In the cleanest of breaks, people who had served in the earlier assemblies were ineligible for the Legislative Assembly.
[2] The Marquis lives on every time you use or hear the word “sadism.”
[3] John Stuart Mill accidently burned the first and only copy that Carlyle produced. Carlyle completely rewrote it. Having read the second version, I can well imagine that the first was more readable. It had to be. An alternate theory of my own imagination is that Mill burned it on purpose because he realized just how unreadable it was.
[4] Try for yourself, I dare you. And remember, these are the best quotes, not random ones. https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/2101407-the-french-revolution-a-history
[5] https://www.worldfirst.com/uk/blog/economic-updates/daily-update/7-places-outside-france-bastille-day-celebrated/
One canard that we were all brought up on is that the Bastille was a loathsome dungeon full of innocent political prisoners. In fact, as you say it harbored not hordes but precisely seven inmates when the mob stormed it. Contrary to what we have been told, the prisoners were detained in good conditions. At least one was attended by his own chef. Bernard-René de Launay, the governor, was by all accounts a fair and patient man. But that did not save him from the mob’s “revolutionary justice.” You say all the prisoners were released. The governor was indeed “released” in the sense that they dragged him out of the fortress and stabbed him to death. There is nothing “happy” about Bastille Day or the revolution that followed or the inspiration it provided to the likes of the Lenin, Stalin, Mao, and all those with the totalitarian spirit in their hearts
Very enjoyable post. I tried to read some the quotes You linked to and didn’t make it very far. They were so full of exclamations. I’m not sure if the awkwardness comes from translation or it’s just the author.
It’s the author. The entire book was like that. The entire book. I was physically angry at the author while reading the book. Come to think of it, I don’t forgive my son.
Interesting! Thanks for the history lesson- especially as I will not be reading a book that you found “excruciating “ any time soon! 🤣
A much better read is A Tale of Two Cities. You will feel the revolution.